Who are the 2024 presidential candidates? These are the Republicans and Democrats running.
The 2024 election cycle has kicked off, and the race is heating up even as Election Day is months away.
President Joe Biden is seeking another term in the White House, and with former President Donald Trump's hat also in the ring, a 2020 rematch is a real possibility. Democrats are expected to fall firmly behind Biden, and Trump has held a stubborn lead in polls on the Republican side.
With mounting legal troubles, and several high-profile candidates aiming to unseat him, however, Trump is not yet a sure-fire winner.
Here are the latest developments on the path to the 2024 election:
- Biden's Black voter problem: President loses support ahead of 2024
- Manchin:Americans should be worried about Trump's support
- What do voters know after GOP debates? Checking in ahead of 2024
DEMOCRATS
Despite concerns over his age, Biden remains a strong frontrunner for his party's nomination. Several lesser-known Democratic candidates are mounting challenges to the president, but they have yet to gain much traction.
Joe Biden
Background: First elected in 1972, Biden served as a senator from Delaware for 36 years before being elected vice president in 2008, mounting a victory alongside former President Barack Obama. After serving two terms as vice president, he took a brief hiatus from government work before returning to run, and win, in 2020.
Views: Biden's campaign is focused on the "battle for the soul of America," doubling down on the central message of his campaign four years ago. He said the question facing the nation is "whether, in the years ahead, we have more freedom or less freedom, more rights or fewer."
Dean Phillips
Background: Phillips represents Minnesota in the House of Representatives and was first elected to Congress in 2018. Before entering politics, Phillips made his name as a businessman, heading up Phillips Distilling and serving as chair of Talenti Gelato.
His views: Phillips is a moderate with a reputation in Washington for reaching across the aisle. A member of the Problem Solvers Caucus, one of his major legislative accomplishments was the creation of the Paycheck Protection Program, which he co-authored with Texas Republican Rep. Chip Roy. The program provided loans to businesses to help them during the economic downturn caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Marianne Williamson
Background: Williamson is a self-help author and spiritual leader who ran unsuccessfully for president in 2020.
Her views: Williamson supports abortion rights, a single-payer health care system and reparations for descendants of formerly enslaved Americans. She has suggested creating a U.S. Department of Children and Youth to increase child advocacy and a U.S. Department of Peace.
REPUBLICANS
Since his win in 2016, Trump has served as de facto leader of the Republican Party, his influence still looming large in Washington. After Trump-endorsed candidates suffered in the 2022 midterms, however, speculation swirled that there was an opening for a new leader to rise. Here are the candidates who have thrown their hat in the ring.
Ryan Binkley
Background: Binkley is CEO, president, and co-founder of the mergers and acquisitions conglomerate Generational Group. He is also a faith leader, co-founding and serving as the pastor at Create Church in Richardson, Texas.
His views: Binkley has said he hopes to prioritize balancing the budget, lowering health care costs, creating bipartisan immigration reform and putting more community emphasis on education. Binkley is against abortion rights. His campaign website says he was "thankful" when the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, but that a "culture of life" means prioritizing adoption as well.
Chris Christie
Background: Christie was appointed U.S. Attorney for the District of New Jersey in 2001 and served for six years, before being elected governor of the state in 2010 and serving until 2018. Christie has been a prominent figure in the GOP for many years. In 2016, he mounted an unsuccessful presidential campaign and, despite prior criticism, ultimately endorsed Trump and later joined his campaign.
His views: Christie is anti-abortion, but does support some exceptions in the case of incest, rape and danger to the mother. He is not for a federal ban. Instead, he believes the issue should be left to the states. He has advocated for a more secure border to stem the flow of fentanyl into the country, saying earlier in his campaign he planned to deploy the National Guard.
Ron DeSantis
Background: DeSantis serves as the 46th governor of Florida. While in law school, DeSantis joined the U.S. Navy as a JAG officer, later deploying to Iraq for active duty. Before his run for governor, he served in the House of Representatives as a congressman for Florida's 6th district for three terms from 2013 to 2018.
His views: DeSantis is campaigning on a hard-right agenda to make America look more like Florida. He is anti-abortion and has signed a 6-week abortion ban in his home state. On the border, DeSantis has been outspoken in his vision for a crackdown. He has promised to complete a border wall, reimpose the "Remain in Mexico" policy, and possibly end birthright citizenship. Similar in politics but different in demeanor, DeSantis represents a younger, some say more predictable, alternative to Former President Donald Trump.
Nikki Haley
Background: Haley started her political career in South Carolina's state legislature, where she served for 6 years before mounting a successful campaign for the governor's office in 2010. In 2016, former President Donald Trump nominated Haley to be U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, a position she held for a year before unexpectedly stepping down in 2018.
Her views: Haley opposes abortion rights and has been a vocal supporter of Israel in its ongoing war with Hamas. While on the campaign trail, she has focused on illegal immigration, advocating for a return of the Trump-era "Remain in Mexico" policy as well as the defunding of sanctuary cities. Haley has told voters she hopes to crack down on China's influence on the U.S. economy. She has supported Trump in the past but also criticized him after the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol attack.
Asa Hutchinson
Background: Hutchinson was first elected to the U.S. House of Representatives to serve Arkansas' 3rd district in 1997. He served until 2001 when he was appointed director for the Drug Enforcement Administration and later undersecretary for the Department of Homeland Security for former President George W. Bush's administration. After leaving Washington, he was elected 46th Governor of Arkansas. He served for two terms, from 2015 to 2023.
His views: On immigration, Hutchinson has promised to send more resources to Border Patrol as well as resume construction of a border wall. He opposes abortion and has said he would sign a federal ban if elected but supports exceptions. He is also a vocal critic of Trump, saying he "is not the right leader” for the nation or the Republican Party.
Vivek Ramaswamy
Background: Ramaswamy is a former biotech investor who founded the pharmaceutical research company Roivant Sciences in 2014. He stepped down as CEO in 2021 after going more public with his opposition to ESG and 'woke' politics in the corporate sector. He moved on to found Strive Asset Management, before stepping down to dedicate time to his 2024 run.
His views: Ramaswamy is framing himself as an outsider, an entrepreneur-turned-political-hopeful who will give the establishment a run for its money. He has peddled ideas such as ending affirmative action programs and eliminating the Department of Education.
Donald Trump
Background: Prior to 2016, Trump dabbled in politics, often sounding off on issues like the birther movement meant to cast doubt on former President Barack Obama's citizenship and the case surrounding the now-exonerated Central Park Five. However, he was still primarily known for real estate and his forays into reality television, famously starring in "The Apprentice."
In 2016, Trump won the White House, serving a full four-year term before being defeated by Biden in his reelection bid.
His views: The former president has, without evidence, centered much of his campaign on the claim that his political enemies are fueling his ongoing criminal cases. He has said he would consider pardoning participants in the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot, which his critics say was inspired by his false claims of election fraud.
THIRD-PARTY CANDIDATES
The potential of a tight Trump-Biden rematch opens the door for a third-party candidate to be integral in determining the results of the race. A third name on the presidential ballot could drain votes from either of the two major party nominees, tipping the scales toward either Biden or Trump.
Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
Background: Kennedy is an environmental lawyer known for trumpeting a debunked theory that vaccines can be linked to autism. In 2017, Trump invited Kennedy to head up a presidential commission on vaccine safety.
His views: He is campaigning on a platform of fighting for the "liberties guaranteed by the Constitution," according to his campaign website. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Kennedy opposed vaccine mandates, calling them an infringement on individual liberty and at times used the Holocaust as a historical comparison.
Cornel West
Background:West is an American academic and philosopher known for his progressive ideals. He has taught at several Ivy League institutions and works now as a professor of philosophy at Union Theological Seminary.
His views: West is a proponent of establishing Medicare for All, and barring oil and gas subsidies, as well as drilling on public lands. Long a vocal opponent of militarism, West's campaign website lists "end the wars" as a key priority, which would include disbanding NATO and banning nuclear weapons across the globe.
Jill Stein
Background: Stein is a doctor and organizer who has championed causes like campaign finance reform and environmental protection. She has run for president twice before, launching bids in 2012 and 2016.
Her views: Stein paints herself as an outsider, coming in to disrupt a political system ruled by money and special interests. In her campaign launch video, posted to X, she called for an economic bill of rights including "the right to a job, to health care, to housing, to food, education and more.
Candidates who dropped out
- Tim Scott
- Mike Pence
- Will Hurd
- Francis Suarez
- Larry Elder
- Perry Johnson
- Doug Burgum